Great Lakes Dredge & Dock (GLDD) Competitors

Great Lakes Dredge & Dock (NASDAQ:GLDD) and Argan (NYSE:AGX) are both construction companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, dividends, earnings, profitability, institutional ownership, media sentiment, valuation and risk.

Which has more volatility & risk, GLDD or AGX?

Great Lakes Dredge & Dock has a beta of 1.3, suggesting that its share price is 30% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Argan has a beta of 0.54, suggesting that its share price is 46% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the media favor GLDD or AGX?

In the previous week, Argan had 8 more articles in the media than Great Lakes Dredge & Dock. MarketBeat recorded 14 mentions for Argan and 6 mentions for Great Lakes Dredge & Dock. Great Lakes Dredge & Dock's average media sentiment score of 0.94 beat Argan's score of 0.43 indicating that Great Lakes Dredge & Dock is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Great Lakes Dredge & Dock	4 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Argan	6 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	4 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

Do analysts prefer GLDD or AGX?

Great Lakes Dredge & Dock presently has a consensus target price of $14.00, suggesting a potential upside of 16.62%. Argan has a consensus target price of $193.00, suggesting a potential downside of 7.94%. Given Great Lakes Dredge & Dock's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts clearly believe Great Lakes Dredge & Dock is more favorable than Argan.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Great Lakes Dredge & Dock	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00
Argan	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.33

Which has stronger earnings and valuation, GLDD or AGX?

Argan has higher revenue and earnings than Great Lakes Dredge & Dock. Great Lakes Dredge & Dock is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Argan, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Great Lakes Dredge & Dock	$762.69M	1.07	$57.26M	$1.02	11.77
Argan	$874.18M	3.27	$85.46M	$7.13	29.40

Is GLDD or AGX more profitable?

Argan has a net margin of 11.00% compared to Great Lakes Dredge & Dock's net margin of 8.63%. Argan's return on equity of 29.61% beat Great Lakes Dredge & Dock's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Great Lakes Dredge & Dock	8.63%	15.72%	5.85%
Argan	11.00%	29.61%	12.82%

Do insiders & institutionals hold more shares of GLDD or AGX?

89.1% of Great Lakes Dredge & Dock shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 79.4% of Argan shares are held by institutional investors. 2.2% of Great Lakes Dredge & Dock shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 6.7% of Argan shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Argan beats Great Lakes Dredge & Dock on 10 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.